RAWdance and Prop 8

Sunday afternoon, I went to a free modern dance performance in Union Square. It was part of their Jewels in the Square summer series. A number of the dancers who were in the performance are teachers at ODC, the dance school/organisation where I work. The piece was a reaction to Prop 8 being passed in November 2008. I love seeing modern dance performed in public places and I thought it was great that this piece brought a pertinent issue into such a space.

The piece ended with the dancers standing in two rows facing each other and they all, very gently and sweetly, kissed the person opposite them. It reminded me how a kiss is such a loving gesture and how we kiss so many people in our lives - parents, siblings, friends, lovers, family. And it's only when people sexualize the act of kissing that it becomes taboo in our culture. I remember when I was living in Italy how pretty much every where you went you could see young couples making out. And how kissing was a natural form of greeting between everyone. Not that I could see gay marriage being legal in Italy any time soon.

Still for me, two people expressing their love for one another and wanting to share that with their family and loved ones should be embraced not feared and repressed.

June: An eclectic month

• Tanya (6/5/09) - Tanya came from Atlanta to visit her brother and have her semi-annual fete with her friend Maylee. I was able to steal a few hours with her to have some dinner and show off my place of work while providing some much needed de-stressing time for her. Luckily, I get to hang out with her more soon!

• Martin's 26th birthday (6/6/09) - Vegan brunch, 3 parks (Interior Park Belt, Buena Vista, Alamo Square), coffee, Up!, Vegetarian Chinese food and chocolate-cherry cupcakes! Overall an awesome day.

• Trigun (6/8/09 to 6/21/09) - This is an anime series that Martin got for us to watch. He had seen it before and thought I would like it prompted by the number of anime movies I had been getting from Netflix. It was the perfect blend of silliness, seriousness and science fiction for me.

• Appcelerator Release Party (6/9/09) - Martin's company had a big release party downtown. I went and finally met most of his current co-workers. I don't see them a lot since their office is down in Mountain View.

• Ben and Blues dancing (6/15/09) - Ben Nathan, a friend from high school, lives out here in SF. We rarely see each other because we're usually both busy working, but he gets a summer vacation. We got to hang out, grab dinner, see his students perform (he works at a performing arts high school in Oakland) and go to a Blues dance house party.

• Plants Vs Zombies (6/21/09) - Martin should know better than to show me silly games on the computer. He knows how addicted I can get. Can't wait to show my mom when I come home to visit!

• Movie night (6/25/09) - We found out a local coffee shop a block from our house does a free movie night on Thursdays. They were showing "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," which is such a great film/musical. Click here to see a clip of one of my favorite songs.

• Katie Faulkner (6/27/09) - Another local, SF choreographer. She played with text and movement in one piece, light and projections in another and finished with a duet that was both nostalgic and light-hearted at the same time.
  

• Grand View Park (6/28/09) - A new park! Well, we had climbed up to the park back in May, but it was totally encased in fog. We literally couldn't see beyond the hill top. This time it was hazy, but clear. Unfortunately, no camera again. :(
  

May: Work, Play and Friends!

• Stern Grove & Anna Halprin (5/3/09) - A site specific dance performance that was part of the San Francisco National Dance week festivities. It was cold and foggy, but worth it. The audience sat facing the amphitheatre as the dancers ran, flew, and fell through out the space. A little boy, who was the son of one of the dancers, was in the audience and kept getting up to dance with them. There was also a dog who had an engaging duet with one of the dancers at one point as well.

• My 27th birthday! (5/4/09) - Truffles, comfy chairs for the apartment, yoga class and dinner waiting for me when I got home. Add a homemade carrot cake and you've got a pretty amazing birthday.
• Day at the Races (5/17/09) - This was the end of the year youth program performance at my job and the bain of my existance for most of April and May. I ended up being the Box Office Manager, Production Manager, Stage Manager and House Manager for the event. Those of you who have worked in the performing arts industry can imagine how stressed and overwhelmed I was. In the end, it ended up being a great show with only a few incidents that were totally out of my control.

• Move a Teen to Dance campaign (5/12/09 to 6/12/09) - And as if I didn't have enough on my plate at work, we started a fundraising campaign during the month of May for the Teen Program. In the end, it was a great success and we raised over $11,000 and $8,000 of that was matched by a foundation grant that we have!

• Alex (5/26/09 to 5/31/09) - And after everything calmed down, Martin's good friend and former roomie Alex came to visit us! The two of them went to a Google conference during the week and then to Alex's cousin's Bar Miztvah.

• Scott Wells (5/28/09) - Another local, SF choreographer. Probably one of the funniest, most atheletic and well-choreographed performances I've been to since I've moved here. There was even a juggling piece!
  

April: Trail blazing & dancing

• Mount San Bruno (4/5/09) - As I was bicycling up the side highway on a mountain, I was reminded of how I should remember to make sure that Martin has done his homework on how we're going to get there BEFORE we leave. In the end, it was worth the amazing views and the knowledge that I made it up there (even if I had to stop and walk because a bug flew into my eye).

• John Jasperse (4/4/09) - A New York choreographer who's work I was curious to see. The stage was covered with an elaborate set made up of wire hangers. Both lovely and surreal.

• Fort Funston & Lake Merced (4/11/09) - Another long bicycle, but this time it was flat and by the ocean. In the end, Lake Merced was very disappointing, but Fort Funston was worth the views and the experience of hangliders swooping over our heads. No pics, sorry.

• Liz Lerman (4/14/09) - A dancer, teacher and choreographer who developed a critical response method that many of the organizations that I worked with in Atlanta used. Many of my mentors know and/or have worked with her, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to hear her talk.

• Toe to Toe (4/16/09) - ODC/Dance dancers verses Cal Berkeley athletes. A fundraiser for my organization that I dragged Martin to. Nothing like wacky obsticle courses, giant boxing gloves, and an Alligator dancing with a Bear.

• Janice Garrett (4/19/09) - A local, SF choreographer. I saw one of her pieces performed in Union Square when Danny came to visit and really appreciated it. I was excited to see her work in a traditional venue. Plus, I finally knew some of the dancers in the performance!

Didn't I

Even though I work at this great dance studio here in the city, I seriously miss the dance class that I used to go to in Atlanta. My teacher, Susan, had converted her attic into a dance studio. It was blistering hot in the summers and freezing cold in the winters. It didn't matter. It was such a beautiful space and class.

I used to bicycle there a little bit early so that I could sit chatting on her porch before going into class. It was sitting there one evening in early June that I told her about the possibility of moving to San Francisco.

I loved that everyone felt welcomed and able in her class. There were beginning dancers next to professional dancers. Susan has an amazing ability to see people moving and communicate what they are doing. And she always picked great music for her combinations. I fell in love with this song by Darondo while dancing to it in her class. Since I'm being nostalgic, I thought it fitting that the first video I found of it was a guy free style dancing on his street in San Francisco. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

A few firsts from our 1st week here...

First apartment viewed - Last Sunday. It was in Nob Hill. It was a no. I'm not too keen on living in a neighborhood with "hill" in the name anyway.

First major fall on my bike - I'm fine, just a bruise on the hip and a scrape on the arm, right where I tend to lean on it :/ I would suggest, if you ever cycle over trolley tracks, try to keep it as close to a right angle as you can. I'm kind of proud that it took me so long to wipe out on my bike since I've been cycling for five months now. Oh yeah, we were on the way to view the apartment

First siting of the elusive, almost-mythical sea lions - We cycled right by them. Twice. It took having our roommate, Michael, take us there during our whirlwind driving tour of San Francisco, which also included Danielle Steele's estate and Danny Glover's place.

First commute - On Monday, Martin started heading to his office in Mountain View. It's a 15 minute cycle to the train station. An hour long train ride. And a 2 minute cycle to the office. He's getting a lot of reading done.

First crepes - My friend from high school, Ben, took us to a crepe restaurant for dinner one night. I had the Ratatouille and mushrooms crepe. It was really good! It was the first time I had Ratatouille too.

First milonga - Wednesday night, I cycled to my first milonga here. My first milonga in a long time actually. Maybe first of the year. It was fun. They did a great job, in my opinion, of mixing traiditional music sets with un-traditional music sets. I only danced with a few people. I'm really bad about asking people to dance myself. I usually leave that up to the guys. I had a great time people watching though.

First yoga class - I think I may have found my yoga studio, though if we don't end up living near by that may change. I went to my first class this morning. And yes, Floyd was there, and he was taking class with us. To understand that you'll have to click on the link to the yoga studio website.

That's all for now, we have a long weekend ahead of us full of apartment showings and exploring. I'll try to bring the camera with us on some of our journeys.

We made it!

In the early afternoon on Tuesday, we reached a milestone in our journey west - California - the state that held our final destination. We stopped for lunch at an In 'n Out Burger, which is a fast-food place that has good veggie options apparently. After lunch, we drove through the Mojave Desert and skirted LA, but we noticed the smog in the distance. We settled in with Krista, Gamelan, Rob and Paul - Martin's friends from Sault Sainte Marie - for the evening and the next day.

It was nice to have a day of rest and relaxation. We watched internet videos, walked on the beach, got our feet covered in tar, and played Munchkin. We were also treated to many wonderful meals out (it's our treat, Krista when you visit us in the Bay!).

Thursday morning, we were on the road again headed for San Francisco. We made one pit stop at the Hearst Castle. We took the basic 1-hr 45-min tour of the main floor of the house. During the tour, Martin realized that he was not a fan of excessive displays of wealth. I found it odd and some what disturbing to see so many artifacts from Europe - particularly ones form Italy - mismatched together.

After our detour, we hightailed it up the coast on California Highway 1. Well, not hightailed it exactly since it's pretty tricky driving. We made it to our sublet and home for the next 3 weeks around 7pm Thursday evening. And running on empty, we managed to get everything out of the car, and to eat a quick dinner. Then, Martin returned the car to the rental place at the airport. Where was I, you ask? Where do you think - passed out in bed, of course.

Today was our first day in the city. Because our internal clocks are still set somewhere east of the Rocky Mountains, we got up around 8am and headed out in search of a grocery store. Eventually, we stumbled up on a Safeway, the San Francisco equivalent of Kroger, and got ourselves breakfast and food for future meals. Then, we ambitiously decided to go home and cycle to Golden Gate Park. To my amazement, I was able to cycle there without any trouble at all. We walked around the Botanical Gardens a bit, before heading to a bike shop and lunch - that cycle was a bit more troublesome. Needless to say, when we got home this afternoon, I took a nap, while Martin somehow continued to function.

Our last adventure this evening was heading to a dance performance at the Yerba Buena Cente for the Arts. We braved the city's light rail system - Muni - and found ourselves in downtown SF. The show was great. There was an interesting combination of modern dance and cultural dance in the show. I walked out and wanted to head to dance class. I guess that adventure is still in my future.